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August 2006

Q.1 : Q: I am an Arabian Living in Zanzibar Island. I received the analogue channels from Arabsat. I want to know if it is possible to receive digital channels from Arabsat and Nilesat. (Mohammad Aman, Saudi Arabia)

Ans: A: It is hard to receive Arabsat and Nilesat in KU band in you area because their beams are focusing to the Middle East and some parts of Europe. However, you still can receive the digital channels from Arabsat in C Band. You can check the latest frequencies updated from http://www.track.com

Q.2 : Q: I would like to know more about FTA satellite. Do I need a special receiver to receive these channels or will my Globecast receiver pick up these available FTA channels? (Amjad Iqbal, Kuwait)

Ans: A: Your Globecast receiver should work fine for FTA reception. If you have a Globecast dish and it happens to be pointed at Intelsat Americas 5, you should have no problems tuning in to the FTA channels on this satellite. You have to set up the receiver to scan for these channels, but once they are found, these channels will be available to you. If I'm not mistaken, the Globecast dish is very much oval in shape so you may have better luck with channels on the horizontal beam than those on the vertical beam or vice versa.

Q.3 : Q: I am new to the satellite world. What is a CI slot and what is the advantage for a receiver to have it? Hope you will guide me on this issue. (Fareed Khan, Abbotabad)

Ans: A: The CI slot is a feature that gives a receiver the capability to receive PayTV channels. "CI" stands for "Common Interface". A receiver with one or two CI slots usually can decode a variety of different encryption systems (such as Nagravision, Viaccess, etc.) as long as the appropriate Conditional Access Module, or CAM, is inserted into the CI slot. The CAM that is used will determine what encryption system is to be decoded. In other words, if you want to watch Viaccess encrypted channels, you would need a Viaccess CAM. The SmartCard needed to authorize the reception of the PayTV channels would be inserted into the CAM.

Q.4 : Q:I have a 90 cm dish. Is it possibe to receive Hotbird in Khartoum, Sudan?
(Saleh Mohammad, Sudan)

Ans: A: Unfortunately, signals are getting weaker as we head to the north in Africa, so you will need a dish bigger than 240 cm to receive the wide beams from Hotbird 2,3,4,6.

Q.5 : Astra in Iraq
Q: I live in Hilla, Iraq. I have 1.8 m dish and Humax f2 1002 with 0.3 dB lnbf. I receive some channels from Astra sats 19.2 east and some channels from Hispasats. Is it possible to receive Eurobird 1 and Hotbird Super Beam? (Talha, Iraq)

Ans: A: It is nice that you receive some of these satellites which some people in the Middle East have difficulties receiving them. Regarding Eurobird 1, it is also considered as one of the difficult receptions to pick in the Middle East. I would suggest to try the frequencies from steerable 2 beam, such as 12.607 H 27500 3/4. If you are not able to pick it up with same dish, then a bigger dish like 2.4M is needed. You also have to know that you will receive some frequencies from that satellite, not all of them. For Hotbird super beams, it is hard to receive these beams even with bigger dishes.